Interiors: inside Hampstead's iconic Isokon building

The Telegraph pays a visit to the penthouse of a north London landmark, the
historic prototype of domestic modernism.

The Grade I listed Isokon apartment block has been compared to an ocean linerPhoto: Rachael Smith

By Dominic Bradbury

7:00AM BST 04 Sep 2014

Sitting among the Georgian terraces of leafy Hampstead, the Isokon building felt way ahead of its time when it first opened its doors in 1934. Comprising 32 flats plus servants’ quarters, it was the first time that reinforced concrete had been used in British domestic architecture, and is the earliest example of ‘deck-access’ apartments in the country.

Today the sleek apartment building still feels fresh with its crisp, sculpted outline and floating balconies suggesting a great ocean liner moored among the trees. It was the achievement of a lifetime for the design entrepreneur Jack Pritchard and the avant-garde architect Wells Coates.

For a fleeting moment in the late 1930s this was the social and creative hub of north London, hosting a succession of famous writers, artists and architects. Pritchard and his wife, Molly, lived in the penthouse apartment, which is now home to another entrepreneur – one with a similar passion for architecture and good design – Magnus Englund, the managing director of the Skandium furniture, lighting and home accessories stores.

Englund, who has rented the penthouse for the past year and is now in the process of buying it, has become a passionate custodian of the influential Isokon legacy. Some might even call him a little obsessive. Englund has certainly embraced the whole experience of living in the penthouse, with its vast roof terrace alongside, where he and his wife, Gjøril Reinecke Englund, recently married.

‘One of the staff at Skandium lives in one of the flats downstairs, and they happened to say that the penthouse was available,’ Englund says. ‘I thought, “I want to see that,” and when I did I was completely overwhelmed by it. The terrace is bizarrely big and is actually bigger than the flat. We think that originally Jack and Molly were planning to live in one of the smaller flats downstairs, and that the terrace was supposed to be a communal space for the whole building. But at some point they must have realised that they could have a penthouse on the top floor, and Wells Coates designed this pavilion opening on to the terrace.’

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The entire Isokon building was restored a little more than 10 years ago by Avanti Architects, and made fit for 21st-century living after years of decline and semi-dereliction. The penthouse features birch-veneer panelling on the walls, and honey-coloured timber floors in a chequerboard pattern. The timber was bought from Venesta, the Baltic ply manufacturer that Jack Pritchard represented in Britain, while much of the furniture

collected by Englund – including the armchairs and the table-like Penguin Donkey bookcases – is from Isokon, the plywood furniture company founded by Pritchard. Many Isokon pieces were designed by Marcel Breuer and Walter Gropius, both Bauhaus exiles from Nazi Germany who lived in the building before moving to America.

Englund sees many parallels between these classic Isokon pieces and the work of mid-century Scandinavian masters such as Alvar Aalto, whose plywood chairs and other designs have always formed a key element of the products on offer at Skandium’s stores. ‘There are very clear connections, although it did take me a while to discover them,’ Englund says. ‘Isokon really came out of Baltic-Scandinavian design, which is why Isokon furniture is very close to Aalto’s work.’

Together with Gjøril and the architect John Allan of Avanti, Englund has established the Isokon Gallery. Housed in the former garage on the ground floor of the block, it has recently opened to the public at weekends. It is a thoughtful celebration of the building’s golden age and its famous residents, who included Agatha Christie and a nest of spies working for the Russians. Few buildings in London can boast such a pedigree.

The Grade I listed Isokon apartment block, built in 1934 by a design aficionado and his flamboyant architect, has been compared to an ocean liner. It was renovated in 2003, when the original panelled walls and timber floors of the penthouse were restored. The garage to the front now houses the Isokon Gallery, dedicated to the building’s unique history.

The terrace

Photograph: Rachel Smith

Magnus and his wife Gjøril recently got married on large terrace, which is bigger than the penthouse itself. The penthouse originally belonged to Jack and Molly Pritchard, who developed the building with architect Wells Coates; their son Jonathan also celebrated his own wedding on the terrace back in 1955. It was one of many legendary parties hosted on the terrace by the Pritchards. The terrace furniture includes an Eero Saarinen table and Harry Bertoia wire chairs from Knoll (www.knoll.com) as well as a Charles & Ray Eames table and chairs from Vitra (www.vitra.com). The sun loungers were designed by Giandomenico Belotti for Alias (www.aliasdesign.it). (RACHAEL SMITH)

The dining area

Photograph: Rachel Smith

The dining table is a Marcel Breuer design reissued by Isokon Plus (www.isokonplus.com). ‘Breuer did design a dining chair for Isokon but very few now survive and they are not in production,’ says Magnus Englund. ‘So I went for a Alvar Aalto dining chair from Artek.’ (Available from Skandium www.skandium.com). The entrance hallway nearby features a small gallery of Isokon related illustrations and photographs. (RACHAEL SMITH)

The bathroom

Photograph: Rachel Smith

The bathroom was updated and refitted during the restoration by Avanti Architects (avantiarchitects.co.uk). (RACHAEL SMITH)

The bedroom

Photograph: Rachel Smith

The bedroom also features birch panelled walls and fitted cupboards, which give it the feel of a ship’s cabin. ‘The bedroom has these astonishing built-in wardrobes, with Jack’s on one side and Molly’s on the other,’ says Englund. ‘Molly’s is just a double door with a pole inside but Jack’s is much more involved as he liked to dress well. There’s a special trouser rack that comes out and a clever draws using pieces of folded ply plus a tie rack and shoe rack.’ From the window you look out to the treetops of a small enclave of protected woodland, also lending the apartment something of a treehouse feeling. (RACHAEL SMITH)

The living area

Photograph: Rachel Smith

Gjøril Reinecke and Magnus Englund chose pieces from the Isokon furniture company including Marcel Breuer armchairs and Penguin Donkey bookcases by Egon Riss and Ernest Race. The sofa and dining table are 1930s Breuer designs reissued by Isokon Plus (isokonplus.com), and the dining chairs are Alvar Aalto (available from skandium.com). (RACHAEL SMITH)

The hall leading to the bedroom and kitchen

Photograph: Rachel Smith

Panelled ply walls continue the ship-like feel of the building. The kitchens in the Isokon apartments were kept purposefully small, as the original flats were serviced, with meals available to order from the staffed Isokon kitchen on the ground floor. The take up was slow however, so this central kitchen was soon replaced with a café and bar, which proved popular in the late 1930s. The original kitchens and bathrooms in the apartments deteriorated over the years and were refitted with updated appliances during the building’s sensitive restoration by Avanti Architects (www.avantiarchitects.co.uk).